While the August 27 edition of Monday Night Raw was mostly forgettable from a critical standpoint, there were some bright spots in overall viewership.
The biggest takeaway is the surging popularity of Raw General Manager A.J. Lee.
Her segment—including her knockdown affair with Vickie Guerrero—gained an impressive 439,000 viewers, according to Network.Yardbarker.com (via the Wrestling Observer Newsletter).
It was the second segment of the show (8:15-8:30) which, during Raw's brief tenure as a three-hour program, has not been necessarily known to see an uptick in viewership.
However, in this case, not only did the fans in Milwaukee respond positively to the A.J.-Vickie skirmish, the WWE Universe at home did as well.
In comparison with the rest of Raw, the second quarter-hour saw the third biggest increase in viewership.
The other two heavily featured John Cena vs. The Miz at 9 p.m. and C.M. Punk vs. Jerry Lawler during the final quarter-hour. Historically, these quarter-hours have habitually reflected a significant increase in viewership.
The quantitative proof that A.J. is a hit with WWE fans confirms the decision to not only promote her onscreen character to GM, but highlight her in multiple segments throughout Raw broadcasts.
It is a testament that, despite bungling several characters over the years, the WWE braintrust will get one "right" every so often.
Thus, the key moving forward is to not strip A.J. of the quirky qualities that ingratiated her to the fanbase in the first place.
As a result, A.J. should remain a strong, independent character who continues to skip to her own imaginary drumbeat.